This is what teachers like to call “Perfect Attendance”
All your Cuba travel questions, answered: http://abcn.ws/1BxXmoq
Let’s build the most competitive economy anywhere. No one knows for certain which industries will generate the jobs of the future. But we know we want them here.
(Source: obamawhitehouse)
Obamacare in action. The top chart is the uninsured rate and the bottom is the unemployed rate. They’ve both fallen, however, the sky hasn’t.
More context over at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
On the left is sample legislation written by Citibank US lobbyists and on the right is the text of the final Cromnibus legislation.
Can you spot the differences? There aren’t many.
Source: Mother Jones
Beyond Marriage: Inside The Future Of LGBT Advocacy
For more than 20 years, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) bounced around Congress, becoming watered down with religious exemptions and never passing both the House and Senate during the same session. LGBT people throughout the U.S. can still be fired or not hired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and ENDA’s likely last iteration died a quiet death last week in the House Rules Committee.
The LGBT movement is not giving up, however. Instead, the focus has actually grown, with advocacy organizations and lawmakers now gearing up for a comprehensive nondiscrimination bill, one that protects LGBT people not only in employment, but in housing, education, credit, and public accommodations as well. Rather than unsuccessfully fighting for one right at a time, the movement is now pressing to make the case for a full LGBT civil rights bill to block all forms of discrimination across the board.
That is the focus of a new report released by the Center for American Progress (CAP), introduced at an event Wednesday morning. The report aggregates available data about various forms of discrimination LGBT people experience across the country, and guests at CAP’s event drove home the point that these injustices can be tolerated no longer, including lawmakers Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), as well as Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin.
So important, beyond marriage: inside the future of LGBT advocacy | Follow ThinkProgress
(via upworthy)
My colleague Henry Waxman is retiring this year after 40 years in Congress. I’ll miss him and his mustache of justice.
Down with the patriarchy.
Source: Steven Dennis – CQ Roll Call
RE: Rand Paul Likens Obama Exec Action To Japanese Internment Camp Order
Senator Paul’s comments likening President Obama’s executive action that provides immigration relief to millions of people in this nation to the internment of Japanese Americans is insulting - not only to the millions who will benefit from President Obama’s executive action, but to the thousands of Japanese who were interned during World War II, including my own mother and father. At best, his comments are revisionist history, wrapped in a logical fallacy.
President Obama’s executive action prioritizes the protection of vulnerable, hardworking immigrants. Executive Order 9066 did the opposite and was not just a failure of the executive, but a failure of each branch of government, as Congress allowed the internment of thousands to take place, and the Supreme Court failed to uphold the constitutional rights of those interned.
While I’m sure that Senator Paul’s purpose of making these comments was to feed the libertarian fantasy of rampant government overreach in everything President Obama does, the fact remains that there is absolutely no comparison to his executive action, which allows millions of hardworking immigrants to no longer live in fear, and the systematic stripping of basic human rights of Japanese Americans by every branch of government.
Since 1956, eleven Presidents, from both parties, have signed executive actions providing immigration relief.
Precedent on this issue has been established and the President has the constitutional authority to provide such relief.
Welcome to Tumblr Mayor Garcetti - lamayorsoffice
This week, President Obama came out in favor of a strong Net Neutrality rule, without loopholes, which will keep the internet open and free from restrictions. Verizon, Comcast and other internet service providers want to be able to block content, limit access to certain websites and services, and slow the connection unless they receive a cut from every website and extra money from you, the consumers.
A strong Net Neutrality rule, which I support, will prevent that from happening. The fight is not over though. The FCC, which is an independent agency, will make the final decision.
(Source: comebackdecade)